As computer chip speeds on circuit boards increase, communications bottlenecks in inter-chip communication are becoming a larger problem. One possible solution is to use fiber optics to interconnect high speed computer chips. However, most circuit boards involve many material layers and the tolerances employed in their manufacture is not consistent with the needs of optical interfaces. The alignment tolerance of fibers to interconnecting interfaces is generally in the range of microns. Physically placing fiber optics and connecting the fibers to the chips can be inaccurate and time consuming in circuit board manufacturing processes. Routing the optical signals around and between circuit boards can add significant additional complexity. Marketable optical interconnects between computing components have proven elusive, despite the need for broadband data transfer.